Harris Teeter to add beer growlers to five NC stores

Growler bottle at Grapevine in Fort Mill

Harris Teeter is trying its hand at the sale of draft beer in growlers for the first time. 

The Matthews-based grocer will be getting five growler stations in North Carolina over the next three to six months, according to Danna Jones, Harris Teeter's communication manager. 

Two will be in its 201central stores, and the other three will be in Charlotte Harris Teeters. 

Growlers, popular among craft beer enthusiasts, are reusable glass or metal bottles, usually 32- or 64- ounces, that can be filled (and sold to-go) at a station with national or local beers. 

Kroger, which owns Harris Teeter, has also started adding growlers to stores in Virginia. Other stores in Charlotte with growlers include Total Wine in Myers Park and Whole Foods in SouthPark. 

"Our home state of North Carolina is home to many breweries and craft beer enthusiasts, so we are excited to expand this portion of our beer business and intend to frequently rotate the varieties of beer offered in growlers," Jones said. 

Here's the list of Harris Teeter stores that'll be adding growlers:

• Ballantyne Commons Harris Teeter at 15007 John J. Delaney Dr in Charlotte
• Central Ave Harris Teeter at 1704 Central Ave in Charlotte
• Kenilworth Commons Harris Teeter at 1227 East Boulevard in Charlotte
• 201central at 13108 Eastfield Road in Huntersville
• 201central at Weddington Monroe Road in Wesley Chapel  

Myers Park Hardware building is no more

Proceeding with plans to expand its store at the Providence and Queens roads intersection, Harris Teeter recently finished demolishing the old Myers Park Hardware building at the site.

The building was most recently home to Interiors Marketplace, which closed after 19 years. The owners had originally planned to relocate, but weren't able to find a suitable space. Owners John and Kelly Vieregg are focusing on their second store, Post & Gray. Here's an earlier blog post about the closing.

The new Myers Park/Eastover Harris Teeter is set to be two stories, with a 29,500 square foot ground floor and a 12,500 square foot mezzanine. It replaces the smaller Harris Teeter Express located on the site, which was originally an A&P grocery store when it opened in 1938. Here's an earlier post with more details.

A tentative opening date for the new store is early spring next year.

Myers Park Hardware in 1947 - thanks, Maria David, for the picture

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Wal-Mart inches up in Charlotte, Harris Teeter slides a bit

New data from Chain Store Guide, a firm that tracks market share for different companies, shows Wal-Mart - independent of its Sam's Club division - edged Harris Teeter to become the Charlotte region's number one grocer last year.

According to the data, Wal-Mart's share of the Charlotte region's grocery market grew from 20.7 percent in 2010 to 21.5 percent in 2011. Matthews-based Harris Teeter's market share fell slightly, from 22 percent in 2010 to 21.1 percent in 2011.

Combined with Sam's Club (5.8 percent of the market in 2011), Wal-Mart sold 27.3 percent of groceries in the Charlotte region last year.

Food Lion's share dropped, after closing down Bloom and trying to re-work its brand. In 2010, Food Lion had 19.2 of the Charlotte region's grocery market (Bloom included), but in 2011, it fell to 17.7 percent of the market.

Here are the rest of the top 15 area grocery retailers, with their market share for both years:
2011
1. Wal-Mart: 21.5%
2. Harris Teeter: 21.1%
3. Food Lion: 17.7%
4. BI-LO: 7.7%
5. Sam's Club: 5.8%
6. Costco Wholesale: 4.2%
7. Lowes Foods: 3.0%
8. Aldi: 2.0%
9. BJ's Wholesale Club: 1.8%
10. Trader Joe's: 1.5%
11. Target: 1.3%
12. Dollar General: 1.3%
13. Family Dollar: 1.3%
14. Compare Foods: 1%
15. Ingles Markets: 0.7%

2010
1. Harris Teeter: 22%
2. Wal-Mart: 20.7%
3. Food Lion: 19.2%
4. BI-LO: 7.4%
5. Sam's Club: 5.5%
6. Costco Wholesale: 3.9%
7. Lowes Foods: 3.2%
8. Aldi: 2.1%
9. BJ's Wholesale Club: 2%
10. Trader Joe's: 1.6%
11. Target: 1.4%
12. Compare Foods: 1%
13. Ingles: 0.7%
14. The Fresh Market: 0.7%
15. EarthFare: 0.6%

Ruddick Corp. changes name to Harris Teeter Supermarkets, Inc.

Charlotte-based Ruddick Corp., the parent company of Harris Teeter, has officially changed its name to Harris Teeter Supermarkets, Inc.

The new name “better describes the company’s current operating activitivites and long-term strategic focus,” the company said in a statement. Ruddick recently sold its other subsidiary, thread company American & Efird, to a private equity firm.

The company also announced it will relocate from its offices at 301 S. Tryon Street to Harris Teeter’s offices at 701 Crestdale Road, in Matthews. The stock symbol will change from “RDK” to “HSTI.”

And Ruddick is rearranging its executive team. Thomas Dickson, president, chairman and CEO of Ruddick, will be chairman and CEO of Harris Teeter Supermarkets. Frederick Morganthall, II, president of Harris Teeter, will be president and chief operating officer of Harris Teeter Supermarkets, and John Woodlief will be executive vice president and chief financial officer. Rodney Antolock will also be executive vice president. The changes take effect April 2.

Here's a link to their announcement, and a previous post about the name change.

Harris Teeter renovations, rebuilds proceeding

Harris Teeter is getting ready to start rebuilding two prominent stores, its Central Avenue and Providence/Queens Road locations, and expects both to open in 2013.

At the Providence/Queens Road store, spokeswoman Danna Jones said Harris Teeter expects to begin construction in mid-summer, with a tentative opening date set for early spring 2013. At Central Ave., she said construction will begin in the early spring, with a tentative opening late spring next year.

You can read more about the Central Ave. store here, and the Providence/Queens Road store here. Both stores will be new, and designed to look different and fit in with the neighborhood.

The chain is also in the midst of renovations on the East Boulevard store, on the corner of Kenilworth Avenue. There, Harris Teeter is building an addition to the existing store, construction that's been underway for a while. Jones didn't give a completion date for the store.

And my colleague Mike Gordon tells me that the Harris Teeter in Fort Mill is adding a Starbucks kiosk and pizza bar.


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Supermarkets pull toilet paper believed dangerous to tigers

Harris Teeter, Bi-Lo and Food Lion are among supermarket chains the World Wildlife Fund says have agreed to stop selling toilet paper products made from wood pulp harvested from sensitive Sumatran jungles.

The jungles are one of the last remaining habitats for wild tigers in Indonesia, of which there are only about 400 left, the WWF says.

"WWF believes that consumers should not have to choose between tigers and toilet paper," the WWF wrote. "And responsible U.S. companies should not source tissue products that are driving Sumatran tigers to local extinction."

The company in question is Asia Pulp & Paper, which provides pulp for the brands Paseo and Livi, the WWF said. The company's pulp is also used in other "away from home products" sold to places that maintain public restrooms. WWF accuses the company of destructive practices that are harming the jungle.

For more details, you can read the WWF's report here.

Harris Teeter a cappella jingle

So it's Friday, and what's better than a light-hearted YouTube video on a Friday? Perhaps this a cappella jingle from Harris Teeter will help your day fly by.

The song is performed by Mike Tompkins, a YouTube a capella singing sensation who's been on the Ellen DeGeneres show and racked up millions of views for his renditions of various pop songs.

The video was uploaded a few months ago, but I didn't come across it until this blurb in Progressive Grocer this week. Harris Teeter also put out a press release with the lyrics, if you'd like to sing along. The video is embedded below.

Publix is coming...

This probably isn't news if you live nearby, and there have been rumblings about it for some time, but it will still probably raise some eyebrows in Charlotte: Publix is opening two supermarkets later this year near Charlotte.

They're not listed with opening dates on the chain's website. But the signage is up, and "late 2012" is being publicly proclaimed as Publix's time frame.

Both stores will be in South Carolina, one in York County and one in Lancaster County. As the Charlotte Business Journal previously reported, the Lancaster County store is set for the new Cross Creek shopping center.

Here's a picture from the York County site, at Gold Hill and Pleasant roads. (Thanks to my colleague Mark Price for the photo and the heads-up).

The stores will be Publix's furthest foray north. As you can see in this store locator, their closest stores to Charlotte and North Carolina previously were in Columbia, S.C. and Greenville, S.C. Publix hasn't said yet whether it will actually push into N.C., where it currently has no stores.

Compared to Harris Teeter, the locally-owned higher-end general grocery store, Publix is a behemoth. Harris Teeter operates 204 stores, while Publix has more than 1,000.

Publix stock isn't publicly traded, being held by employees, directors and other company insiders, but Publix reports its financial results regularly. For the first nine months of its fiscal 2011, Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix reported sales of $19.7 billion and profits of $1.1 billion. Harris Teeter, for its full fiscal 2011, reported sales of $4.3 billion and profits of $91. million.

Do you think Publix will cross the state line and jump directly on to Teeter's home turf? And do you think the Charlotte region's upscale grocery market can sustain Publix, other new entrant Whole Foods, Harris Teeter, Earthfare and more?

UPDATE - for more information on the Cross Creek Publix store in Lancaster County, check out the developer's website.

Ruddick Corp. wants new name: Harris Teeter Supermarkets, Inc.

Charlotte-based Ruddick Corp. has run the Harris Teeter chain as a wholly-owned subsidiary for decades. Now, it seems that the company finally wants a name that reflects what most people know it as: Harris Teeter Supermarkets, Inc.

Ruddick disclosed the plans in a securities filing last week. One of the matters for shareholders to vote on in September is: "To approve an amendment to the Company's Restated Articles of Incorporation to change the name of the Company to "Harris Teeter Supermarkets, Inc."

Until recently, Ruddick was a sort of hybrid holding company, operating both the Harris Teeter chain of 204 stores and the American & Efird thread and textile company.

It was a somewhat odd marriage, with the supermarket part of the business bringing in by far the larger share of revenue - 93 percent of the total in the third quarter, for example. Ruddick sold American & Efird to a private equity firm in October (corrected), for $180 million (Ruddick recorded a $48.8 million loss on the sale).

Brothers and businessmen Alan and Stewart Dickson founded Ruddick in 1968, naming it for their late father, Rush Dickson. Now, with only one business line to focus on, it seems the old Ruddick name is falling by the wayside in favor of the more recognizable Harris Teeter brand.

Thirsty? Grab a Harris Teeter brand beer

Harris Teeter says customers will soon be able to buy three varieties of private-label beer at its stores. The move follows the trend of retailers trying to boost profits by pushing their own brands as lower-priced alternatives to national labels.

Called Barrel Trolley, Harris Teeter says the new beers are intended to give customers another option when shopping for craft beer. Barrel Trolley will be available this month at Harris Teeter locations that sell alcohol.

Here's what Harris Teeter has to say about the beers' flavors: "The Belgian White Ale promises bright flavors of orange balanced by subtly spicy coriander. The Pale Ale, with three types of hops, offers a complex citrus hope aroma with deep flavor and a long crisp finish.  Finally, the Amber Ale, coming this fall to stores, is a medium bodied craft beer with a complex malt flavor and a subtle citrus aroma."

A six-pack will retail for $7.99 - more than Budweiser, Miller and Coors, but less than some craft beers at Harris Teeter, which can set you back as much as $10.99.


Private labels have expanded more quickly as consumers sought to save money in the downturn. They're generally more profitable for retailers to sell. Family Dollar has been revamping it's Family Gourmet line, which it hopes will help it keep growing the proportion of private label goods it sells and offset profit-killers such as rising gas prices.

Alcohol hasn't been immune from the privatization trend. Trader Joe's has long sold its Charles Shaw (Two-buck Chuck) wines and has a wide private label beer selection too. Other retailers have been getting into the mix too - 7-Eleven and Walgreens have both started selling private label beers, called Game Day and Big Flats 1901. Harris Teeter already sells Oak Creek, its private label wine.

Have you seen Barrel Trolley in stores? Better yet, if you've tasted it, what are your thoughts - can it compete with craft brewery big boys like Sierra Nevada, Rogue and Sweetwater?